Notes: Crossover with the Oceanís Trilogy, sequel
to ĎWhat Happens in Vegasí and ĎThe Two Man Jobí

Bait and Switch

By Rina

July 2011

Disclaimers

: No infringement is intended.

Danny woke to an aching head and the feel of a hard,
gritty surface pressed against his cheek. The sound of muffled voices reached
him, but he couldnít understand what they were saying, just that one sounded
pissed and the other agitated Ė and somehow familiar.

Opening his eyes slowly without moving in any other
way, Danny looked around as much as possible given his position and the fact
that he was having problems focusing on anything, not that there was much in his
line of sight. The floor he was lying on was a slab of concrete, the area that
he could see bare, and the whole lit by a fluorescent bulb that buzzed in a low
counterpoint to the voices outside.

The creak of what had to be the door behind him had
Danny closing his eyes again, feigning unconsciousness in the hope that he would
learn something about where he was and why. There was a grunt and the sound of
someone stumbling into the room before the door slammed shut with ominous
finality. Danny lay where he was, waiting to see if the newcomer would say
anything, but the only thing he heard was the crunch of grit and the soft slide
of fabric against a hard surface as Ė apparently Ė the other person sat
down.

Deciding that pretending he was unconscious wasnít
going to get him any information, Danny slowly rolled to his back, the move
causing new aches to crash through his skull and nausea to roil in his gut.
Fighting the urge to just lie there and wait until everything settled again, he
opened his eyes, blinking a few times until he finally could focus on the man
sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall nearest to him.

The guy looked familiar, disturbingly so, and Danny
wondered if getting bashed on the head made you hallucinate because he could
swear that he was looking at a carbon copy of himself, just with mustache and
goatee.

The other guy stirred, resting his forearms on his
knees as he cocked his head to the side, studying Danny just as closely as he
was being watched. "Glad youíre finally awake," he said, "weíve
got a problem."

When his cell phone rang, Steve reached for it,
expecting to see Dannyís name in the caller ID window. The identification that
flashed up there, however, surprised him, and he frowned before hitting the
connect button and bringing it up to his ear. "McGarrett."

"Steven? This is Rachel." Dannyís exís
cultured voice was edged with what sounded like a combination of annoyance and
anxiety. "Is Danny there?"

"Last I looked, I wasnít his keeper, but no, he
left an hour and a half ago to get Grace."

"He never picked her up, and he isnít answering
his phone." The annoyance in Rachelís tone was now eclipsed by worry.
"And youíre seeing him; that does make you his keeper."

In any other circumstance Steve might have argued the
point that a grown man needed a keeper at all Ė especially knowing that Danny
would have pointed out the fact that he needed one Ė but the fact that
Danny hadnít picked up Grace and the implications of why that might be drove
any other thought from his mind.

"Do you have Gracie?" After Rachelís
affirmative answer, he continued, "Let me see what I can find out; Iíll
call you once I know something."

"Thank you, Steve." She paused a moment
before continuing, "I hope that this is a case of him forgetting and his
phone being dead."

"Yeah, me too," Steve said before hanging
up, but Danny never forgot anything related to Grace, something they both knew
for a fact.

Half an hour later, he, Chin and Kono were standing in
the parking lot of the Safeway on Pali Highway, looking down at Dannyís Camaro.
The doors were closed, and there were bags of groceries in the back seat, but
there was no evidence of Danny in the area.

"Boss," Kono called from the passenger side
of the car, and Steve moved to join her. "There on the upper corner of the
door." Dark red marred the silver finish, and Steve felt his whole body
tense as he recognized it for what it was: blood.

"It looks like thereís a print dried in
it."

"Get a shot of it, and send it in for
analysis."

"I found a phone." Chin was on his hands and
knees next to the driverís side of the car, and Steve ducked down as well,
careful not to touch the car in case there were other prints there. A phone was
lying on the asphalt beneath the car. Pulling out his own phone, Steve hit the
speed dial, listening as the slim black rectangle on the ground rang.

"Chin, I want you to wait for the crime scene
unit to get here and process the car. Kono, check with the store manager, and
get any surveillance footage they have for the last two hours from the parking
lot."

The lack of a target was clawing at Steve, but he kept
the urge to look for one boxed in, knowing that going off half-cocked wouldnít
help Danny right now and it wouldnít get them any closer to finding out what
happened. Turning away from the car, he scanned the parking lot, cataloging the
fact that Chin and Kono were doing their jobs as he knew they would even as he
looked for anything out of place.

His phone rang again, and he answered it without
thinking, hoping that the unknown number was Danny calling from somewhere to say
this was all a big misunderstanding, but the voice on the other end of the line
was unfamiliar.

"Steve McGarrett?"

"Speaking."

"This is Linus Caldwell; I believe you know my
partner Turk?"

In no mood for small talk, Steve ground his teeth
together before making himself speak civilly. "Look, this is a really bad
time; how about I call you back later?"

"I didnít call to chat, Steve. I called because
weíre both missing something, and I think we need to work together to get them
back."

"What the hell Ė what do you know about this,
Caldwell?" Steve snarled, his free hand twitching as he imagined punching
Turkís partner in the face.

"How about we meet and talk about it?" the
other man suggested in a reasonable tone, but Steve was past being reasonable.

An hour later Steve waited by his truck, the bite of
the memory of the first time he had been here making it hard to concentrate on
his surroundings. He forced the memory of Danny bitching about the t-shirts they
had both had to wear away and studied the surrounding area, acutely aware of the
fact that he had no idea of what Turkís partner looked like.

"So is that stuff any good?"

The question caught him by surprise, and Steve stopped
himself in the midst of reaching for his gun. "Yeah, itís Ė you!"
Focusing on the man who had come around the back end of the truck, he couldnít
help but stare, the dark blond hair, blue eyes and All-American features of the
man who had asked Danny out almost six months ago having been burned into his
brain as a target at the time.

"Linus Caldwell," the other man said easily,
offering his hand but not looking offended when Steve didnít shake it.

"You were the guyĖ"

"Yeah." Linus shrugged and gave a charming
smile. "Turk wanted to help the two of you along, so I pitched in."

Deciding he wasnít going to argue about old history,
Steve cut to the current situation. "How the hell do you know Danny is
missing?"

The other manís expression turned somber at that.
"Because Turkís gone as well."

Danny struggled over to the wall and twisted around to
sit with his back propped up against it. Moving hadnít intensified his
headache or made him feel like he was going to hurl, so he thought that he didnít
have a concussion. The other guy was still watching him as if waiting for a
response to his earlier comment, and Danny reached up to rub at his aching head
before giving him one.

"Just who the hell are you, and what the fuck is
going on here?"

"Charlie Tweeder and I have no idea Ė and who
are you?" What must have been shock made his voice calm.

"Danny Williams, Detective Danny Williams."

"They kidnapped a cop?" Charlie asked, his
eyes widening. "Are these people nuts?"

Danny didnít have time to answer because the lock
rattled and the door creaked open, revealing two large men with slicked-back
dark hair who looked like they were straight out of a central casting call for
mob thugs. The shorter of the two men looked from Danny to Charlie and back
before speaking. "Which one of you is Turk Malloy?"

"We got a hit on that print," Chin reported
when Steve answered his call. "It matched a guy by the name of Kai Kealoha;
heís been arrested and done time, small time stuff mostly, but itís added
up."

"Okay, okay, thatís a start," Steve
murmured. "See if you can track down where heís staying.

"Iíve got an address for him; Iíll send it to
you."

"Good, meet me there, and weíll see just what
he has to say." Steve hung up at that and looked over at Linus. "Any
idea why a guy named Kai Kealohaís prints would be on my partnerís car,
especially when he might be involved in Turkís disappearance as well?"

"No clue, we live in Vegas; the only people we
know in Hawaii are you and Danny," Linus said blandly.

"Well, think about it on your way to my
office."

"Directions might be helpful."

"Iolani Palace, just ask for the 5-0
headquarters."

Linus grimaced at that. "I hate police
stations."

"Do it or Iíll arrest you for withholding
evidence, and then youíll be a lot less comfortable there."

"Which one of you is Malloy?" short thug (as
Danny had dubbed him in his mind) asked again.

"I have no idea who youíre talking about,"
Danny said, pushing himself to his feet, the move causing tall thug to pull a
pistol and aim it at him. "What I do know is that Iím a detective on the
governorís task force and you guys have made a serious mistake."

Short thug eyed them both before pointing at Danny.
"You; come with us."

"Heís in there," Kono reported, having
arrived at the small rented house before either Steve or Chin. "I havenít
seen anyone else in the vicinity, so we should be clear."

"Good." Steve surveyed the property, noting
the lush bushes near the door that would give them visual cover. "Kono, you
take the back. Chin, cover me.

Giving Kono two minutes to get to the back of the
house and in position, Steve started for the door, focused on getting the door
open and information out of the man behind it. The first went with textbook
precision, Steve kicking the door in to find Kealoha sitting on a couch, porn on
the television and his dick in his hand. Getting the information was a little
messier, especially as Steve didnít have Danny nagging him about regulations,
but the application of his K-bar to Kealohaís nuts had the man talking.

"I was just hired to snatch the guy, man! I donít
know what they wanted him for," the stocky Islander wailed, staring down at
the knife Steve held to his crotch and trying not to move.

"Hired by whom?" Steve knew he was on the
edge, but he rode it, the glint in his eyes appearing to frighten Kealoha as
much as his knife.

"The guyís name was Nik Soventhol. He gave me
the dudeís picture and said he wanted him."

"Where did you take him?"

"To the old CPC cannery. Look, thatís all I
did! He was alive when I dropped him off."

"Good thing for you," Steve rasped, pulling
back and sheathing his knife before looking at Chin and Kono. "Get him out
of here."

Back at headquarters, Steve slammed into his office,
noting the fact that Linus looked very at ease sitting there for a man who hated
police stations. "Does the name Nik Soventhol mean anything to you?"

Linus shook his head, so Steve continued. "He
works for a man named Semion Baruskov; what about him?"

Linus leaned forward in his chair at that and rested
his elbows on his knees. "Did Turk tell you anything about what we
do?"

"Does security consultants and retrieval experts
narrow it down some?"

Eyeing the other man closely, Steve leaned against his
desk, his arms crossed over his chest. "Go on."

"A year ago a Rembrandt was stolen from its
owner. Now, the owner was a very private person and didnít want the police
involved, so he hired Turk and me to get it back Ė which we did."

"And let me guess, the person you stole it from
was Semion Baruskov, and he found out that you were involved."

"He did. It was just your Dannyís luck that we
were out here again because Turk wanted to check up on you."

Steveís confusion must have shown in his expression
because Linus continued speaking. "Turk considers you his pet project; he
wanted to see how you and Danny were doing."

"In other words, itís your fault that Danny is
missing." Steve pushed off the desk as he spoke, his expression darkening
as he moved toward Linus, who, to give him credit, didnít flinch.

The creaking door banged shut again, and Danny raised
his head to look through bruised and swollen eyes at Charlie, who had been
shoved into the room cradling his left hand against his chest. "You
okay?"

"I think they broke my hand. You?"

"Nose. How many of them did you see?"

"Six, I think." Charlie slid down the wall
to sit across from Danny, causing him to muse that the other man was taking this
very calmly for a car salesman from Austin.

"Same here," Danny nodded. "We need to
figure out a way out of here."

Charlie smiled at that and reached into his pocket
with his good hand, pulling out a set of keys. "Think these would
help?"

Dannyís expression turned incredulous as he stared
at the man who could have been his twin. "A car salesman?"

Chin pulled up overhead shots of the abandoned cannery
on the monitor and magnified the driveway leading up to the building.

"Fresh tire tracks in the dirt," Steve
commented. "Zoom in over to the right there."

"Looks like an SUV," Kono said.

"Not quite as abandoned as they want us to
believe," Chin nodded before all three turned at the sound of Linusí
voice.

"Baruskov wants the painting, and I want Turk; Iíd
say that was a very easy exchange."

Steve bristled. "And what about Danny?"

"Two for one."

Using the keys that Charlie had stolen, Danny eased
open the door, and the two of them snuck out into the corridor, managing to
sidestep rubble and old packing crates that littered the floor. Conversation up
ahead had them sinking back into the shadows, giving each other silent nods as
their guards passed them by, then lunging at the two men.

Danny took short thug out by tackling him face first
into the wall, but he had to drag Charlie off the taller guy when it seemed that
he was intent on beating him into a pulp.

"Are you crazy?" Danny hissed as he pulled
short thugís gun from its holster and shoved it into his belt.

"Heís the one who broke my hand," Charlie
shrugged, giving his victim a kick to the head.

Danny reached up to rub at his forehead, wondering how
the hell he always managed to end up with the crazy ones Ė at least until the
pain from his nose distracted him.

"Okay, that leaves four more, third of the way
there."

"You meeting with Baruskov gives us a
distraction, but you do realize that this guy is probably going to try for you
as well," Steve commented as he paused at the driverís door to the SUV,
Chin and Kono already having gotten in with the gear. The sunrise illuminated
the parking lot, casting long shadows over the asphalt and throwing both menís
haggard expressions into stark relief.

"Guess that means that you had better be good at
what you do." Linus smiled thinly.

"And youíd better be good at selling him on the
fact that you have that painting."

"Iíve got my end covered; you just find Turk
and Danny."

Steve scowled at the other man before getting into the
SUV, wanting to get into position before Linus drove up to the warehouse.

Leaving several SWAT team members in the brush to
watch over the front of the building, he directed the rest to follow himself,
Chin and Kono around to the side of the building that offered the most cover.

"Looks like the meet is on," the officer
watching the front of the building reported. "The civilian just drove up,
and weíve got two men coming out to meet him; both look armed. Theyíre
patting him down; now a thereís a third hostile here."

Gunfire sounded from inside the warehouse, and Steve
dove through an empty loading space, his gun out as his team followed him into
the plantís shadowed interior. More shots came from outside, and the SWAT
member spoke over the radio again. "The three outside are down; civilian is
safe."

"Weíve got another here," Steve reported
even as his shot took the man in the chest and Chinís hit his knee.

"Movement to the left." A flashlightís
beam illuminated the shadows in the corner, revealing two men standing there.

"If you took down four, there shouldnít
be," Danny said, sounding relieved at their appearance and looking as if
someone had used his face for a punching bag. "Weíd only seen six of them
here."

"Hey, Steve," Turk offered, earning himself
a glower from Steve and a confused look from Danny.

Kono looked over at Chin, who appeared as confused as
she felt. "Did you know Danny had a twin?"

"Call Rachel," Steve ordered as he handed
his phone over to Danny, feeling the knot of anxiety that had lived in his gut
since the other man had vanished ease, "sheís been worried about
you."

After a short conversation that sounded as if it
involved a lot of concerned shouting on Rachelís end, Steve took the phone
back, and they walked to the front of the warehouse, allowing the SWAT members
to drag the wounded kidnappers out to the ambulances that had pulled up outside.

"You need to have an EMT look at you as
well," Steve said as he shook his head at the bruises that mottled Dannyís
face and turned his eyes into narrow slits.

"Charlie too, they took it out on his hand."

"Charlie?"

"I swear, Turk, I canít let you out of my
sight," Linus sighed as he joined them, catching Turk in a hug that banged
his hand and had the blond wincing.

"Wait a minute Ė Turk?" Danny demanded
before looking at the man who was hugging his look-alike, his eyes widening as
much as the swelling would allow. "Linus? What the hell?"

"Long story," Steve sighed. "How about
we talk about it later?"

"Damn right we will! Youíre telling me they
were looking for him all the time?"

"Danny, let the EMT look at you, will you?"

Danny scowled as much as possible. "I really hate
all of you right now."

"Hey, donít include us in that," Chin
called.

"Yeah, we just helped rescue you; we donít have
a clue who these guys are," Kono added.

"Youíre telling me that you slept with him
because he looked like me?" Danny demanded hours later, once Steve had
gotten him back to his place. They were sitting out on the lanai, Steve with a
beer beside him despite the hour and Danny a soda, alcohol having been forbidden
until he recovered from his mild concussion.

"I didnít sleep with him..."

"Donít Clintonize it," Danny snapped.
"You ended up in bed with the guy."

"It was before we were together! It was in
Vegas!"

"And what happened in Vegas obviously didnít
stay there. So why did they end up here three months ago?"

Steveís answer came out as a mumble, and Danny
frowned as much as he was able to. "Enunciate, Steven."

"Because Turk apparently made me his project Ė
more to the point, Turk made me showing you how I felt his project."

"So the whole thing with Linus was a
set-up?"

"Well, he obviously thinks youíre good
looking..." Steve offered before hiding behind his beer bottle when Danny
managed to glare at him. "Are you arguing about the outcome?"

"Well, no, except for this whole damn getting
kidnapped issue!"

"Yeah, I didnít like that so much either."
Steve reached across the distance between their chairs and caught Dannyís hand
in his. "It scared the shit out of me, thinking that you were gone."

Danny tightened his hand around Steveís, and they
sat in silence for a short time. "So, who did you threaten for information
as to where we were?"

"You donít want to know."

"I probably donít, just like I probably donít
want to know what those two do for a living."

"Well, you could ask them, but I doubt theyíd
give you a straight answer."

"True, true Ė and what do you mean I could ask
them?" Danny demanded, sitting straighter in the lounge chair.

"Did I forget to mention that theyíre coming
over for dinner tonight?"

Danny just stared at him, so Steve continued, a bit of
desperation coloring his tone. "When we were waiting for you both at the
hospital Linus mentioned it, and it would be a good idea to keep tabs on
them..."

"I hate you," Danny groaned.

"Bet I could change your mind."

Danny grunted out something uncomplimentary, and Steve
grinned. "Címon, weíve got until five. Letís go to bed, and Iíll
make it up to you."

"If you touch my nose, Iím going to kill
you," Danny growled though most of the heat was gone from his words.